Fitting In
by LaserChurch
Summary: When Rick finds a fourteen year old alone in the woods near the prison and takes her in, how will the others react? Will she be able to open up and be a part of the family? Carl/OC
1. Prologue

**I don't own The Walking Dead.**

"Great, just great." Concealed, Rick watched as a girl that couldn't have been older than fifteen recovered from tripping over a log. She had a gun on her belt and a dagger strapped to her leg. How long had she been out here? She wore clothing that looked slightly tattered but not too badly, she had a small pack that didn't look like it could hold much, and her mid-length blonde hair was pulled back in a tight braid that hung down her back. She kneeled by the stream and opened her pack, it was nearly empty. She sighed, and then froze. The leaves crunched and raspy breath was audible. It was a stray walker. Rick got his knife ready to help, but the girl turned around, and in a fluid motion, kicked down the walker and embedded her dagger in the it's head.

"I know you're there. I don't know who you are but I know you're there." She whispered. Rick came out of his hiding place. Not knowing how to react, the girl pointed her dagger at him.

"My name is Rick Grimes. I just want to talk with you." He said, setting his knife on the ground. She sighed again and then strapped her dagger back to her leg.

"I'm Roslynd."

"How old are you?" Rick asked.

"Fourteen." She replied.

"Are you alone?" She nodded.

"When this all started, my parents... Not important. I've been traveling by myself for a couple months now, raiding what I can and finding the best hiding spots."

Rick blinked. A fourteen year old?

"Listen, I have a larger group. Let me ask you three more questions, and if you pass, we'd be willing to take you in."

"Would you really do that for a stranger you just met three seconds ago?" She asked

"It's hard to be alone right now, of course we would. But first, How many walkers have you killed?"

"Too many to count."

"How many people have you killed?"

"Two."

"Why?"

"They tried to kill me."

He stared at her for a moment, and then motioned for her to follow.

"Come and meet everybody." She gave him a small smile and began to follow him.


	2. New Faces

**I don't own The Walking Dead. This is set in season 3, before the prison was destroyed.**

The two wove through trees, logs and walkers until they finally reached the prison.

"You guys live here?!" Roslynd asked. Rick smiled.

"The fences keep out the walkers, and if one gets inside, the cell gates keep 'em out." She stayed silent, but stared in awe. Two people opened the gate from the inside, allowing them access. There was a boy that looked about the same age as Roslynd, and a girl who looked about 20.

"Maggie, call a council meeting. Carl, come with us." Both of them nodded. Maggie ran off, and Carl joined on the other side of Rick. They passed by several people, all giving questioning looks to Rick. They entered the prison, and walked to the room where the council meeting would take place.

"Do I have to stay outside?" Carl asked.

"Not for this one." Rick replied, opening the door for all of them. When they got in the room, Roslynd was glared at by six different people. One of them was Maggie, whom she'd seen earlier.

"This is Daryl, Carol, Hershel, Glenn, Maggie, Sasha, and my son Carl. Guys, this is...well, I'll let you introduce yourself." Rick said to Roslynd.

"My name is Roslynd, and I'm fourteen. I've been living by myself for a couple of months now, I left when my parents...when my town was overrun."

"By yourself?" Hershel asked.

"Yes, I've been raiding stores and homes, and spending nights in unusually small hiding places."

"Impressive." Daryl commented.

"Does the council agree that she can join us?" Rick asked, and one by one they raised their hands, voting yes. "Then you can stay." She sighed in relief.

"Thank you so much!"

"Carl, will you take Roslynd and see if Beth would be alright sharing a cell with her?"

"Sure dad. Let's go." He said with a small smile. As they walked down the halls of the prison, Carl talked the whole time. "I went down this way to find the infirmary by myself. Got caught by a few walkers but they're no problem in here." He turned around and held out his hand. "I'm Carl, by the way. I know my dad introduced me, but that's okay." She shook his hand.

"Roslynd." She said with a smile.

"You know, we're the same age. It's going to be nice having someone else to talk to. The oldest kid aside from me is Lizzie, she's eleven, and to be honest, she's kind of a jerk." Roslynd laughed. "What?! It's true!" He protested, then laughed with her. As they continued on their walk, they talked about how their life was before the apocalypse, only leaving out a few things, like Lori, and Roslynd's parents.

"Oh come on, that can't be true!" Roslynd exclaimed as they approached Beth's cell.

"It is!" he replied. "Hey, Beth?" A blonde teenager appeared at the entrance.

"Hey Carl, who's this?" She asked.

"This is Roslynd, she's new. My dad found her in the woods today. She's my age and has been on her own for a couple of months. My dad was wondering if she could room with you." Carl explained.

"Of course! There's definitely room in here." Beth said, opening the gate so she could enter.

"I'll see you at dinner, Rose!" Carl called as he began to walk away.

"Okay!" She called after him. She set her pack down on her bunk and then sat down for a few minutes.

"I'm Beth. I would take you on a tour of the prison, but it looks like there's someone else who wants to do that." She smiled.

"I'm Roslynd. I guess I'll just have to wait until after dinner for that tour, then." She sighed, lying back on the mattress.


	3. Opening Up

**I don't own The Walking Dead!**

"It's nice to have someone who understands. Another kid that doesn't just want to be a kid, who wants to help and do whatever has to be done." Carl told Rose. They stood on the balcony of a watchtower, keeping watch.

"Any chance to be a kid is long gone, and the adults need to understand that."

She replied.

"I like you, you can stay." Carl said and winked.

"I don't normally act this way towards people to tell you the truth."

"I noticed that at dinner last night. Why is it different with me? You just met me like three hours ago." She gave him a questioning look.

"Because you're different." He shrugged. "We have so much in common, I think we could be really good friends, and that just might be what I need right now." Rose nodded and smiled, then they were silent until Glenn and Maggie took over their post. Then, they went their speed ate ways to get their chores done.

-1 year later-

As months passed by, they grew closer. Carl started sitting by her every meal, they started doing chores together, and every night, they took watch for about an hour. That was their time where they could just be themselves without anybody around to tell them they couldn't say what they want. Carl wasn't the only person who grew close to Rose, though. Beth and her sister Maggie became family. She spent time helping Rick with the farm and playing games with Daryl and Carol.

"Ready to go on watch?" Carl asked with a smile.

"I'm always ready." Rose winked. They climbed up the stairs into the watchtower, and when they got up, he wrapped his arms around her waist and she hugged his neck.

"Finally alone." He sighed.

"Finally." She agreed. They remained in the embrace for awhile longer, neither of them wanting to let go. When they finally let go, Carl noticed that something was off about Rose.

"Are you alright, Rose?" He asked, looking concerned.

"Can we... Can we tell your dad? I don't like keeping this a secret... I just... I love you and I don't want to hide it anymore." She said softly.

"I don't want to hide it either, love." He said. She laced her fingers in his and placed a short kiss on his lips. "I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." She replied.

**Sorry I kind of rushed that. I really wanted to get the relationship established so that I can have more plot without dragging on developing relationships and day-to-day sameness. Thank you :)**


	4. Family

**I don't own TWD.**

"Hey, beautiful." Carl said and smiled when Rose opened her eyes. They were still up in the watchtower.

"Why are we still up here?" She asked.

"You fell asleep, so when Glenn and Maggie came to take over, I said I'd stay so I wouldn't wake you. Maggie brought up some blankets." He replied, laughing as she sat up, her hair a mess.

"Oh stop!" She hit him on the arm softly and pulled her hair back in a messy bun while he pretended his arm was wounded.

"Come on sleepy, we have just enough time to go talk to my dad before breakfast." He told her while standing up and offering his hand. She took it, and he kissed her hand when she was up. They then walked to Carl's room that he shared with Rick. When he entered, his dad was sitting on his bed reading.

"Good morning, dad." Carl said with a small smile.

"Hey, Carl. Glenn told me where you were last night, so I wasn't worried."

"I'll remember to tell him thank you at breakfast. Speaking of which, do you have a sec?" Rick nodded. Carl went and got Rose from outside.

"So after this long, you decide to tell me?" Rick chuckles.

"How long have you known?" Carl asked, surprised.

"Carl, you're my son. I've known since she walked in the be honest, I'm really glad that you guys have each other, times are hard enough already, and life is too short. Listen, it's the dang apocalypse, I'm not gonna be one of those parents who is gonna keep restrictions and curfews. Just don't get pregnant, okay?" They both blushed and nodded. Rick got up and hugged Carl and then Rose. "Welcome to the family, Rose. Come on guys, let's go to breakfast." Carl took Rose's hand and they all walked to breakfast as a family.

"Have you slept at all?" Rose asked Carl at breakfast. He shook his head no. "Okay, you're going to take a nap while I do our chores and then we can see if they'll let us go on a formula run for Judith or something of the sort."

"You're not going to do both of our chores by yourself!" Carl protested.

"Try and stop me." She said, placing a kiss on his cheek. "Go sleep. I'll wake you up later. I love you." with that, she walked away to get her assignments for today.

After Rose had finished all of her chores, she went to go wake Carl up. When she reached their room, she knocked to make sure Rick wasn't there. No response. She opened the door and went in to see her boyfriend still asleep. She smiled and went to wake him up, but decided something else was a better idea. She climbed under the covers with him . Still asleep, Carl wrapped his arms around her. As if it was contagious, she fell asleep within a couple minutes. Later on, Rick came in to see his son and Rose asleep in Carl's bed. Careful not to wake them, he grabbed his book and left a quick note:

_Didn't want to wake you two, took over your shift on watch._

_-R_

**Just some fluff to add to your day :) **


	5. The Run

**I finally typed these up! Sorry it took so long :)**

**I don't own The Walking Dead.**

It took about a month of badgering and several combat and driving tests, but finally, Rose and Carl were allowed to go on a run by themselves. Judith needed food, and they were old enough and ready. Ever since Beth and Daryl had gotten together, Beth had moved to his cell, stepping down as Judith's caretaker. When Rick was busy, the responsibility was left to Rose. By now, Rose and Carl both knew how to drive. That aside, Rose was _clearly_ the better driver, so she would be behind the wheel on the run. She dressed in a dark pink flannel, tied just above her waist and light blue cutoff shorts. Her dagger was strapped to her thigh as usual and there was a gun tucked in her belt so that it could easily be reached.

"Remember, baby food and anything else useful that you find. If you have a half tank of gas, come back no matter what you've collected. Stay together." Glenn told them as they were getting ready to leave. Carl took Rose's hand.

"Don't think that will be a problem." He said with a smile. Then, he put his hat on Rose and went to go talk to Rick.

"There's a day's worth of food and water there, just in case you need it. Be careful, and I'll see you soon." Glenn advised and then hugged Rose, walking away as Rick approached.

"Please, be safe. I'm not going to lose you guys, too." He said with a pained expression.

"I love you, dad." Carl hugged him, set his head on Rose's shoulder and then climbed into the passenger's seat. Rick turned to Rose, giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Take care of my son." Rose nodded.

"We can handle it."

"I know you can. Oh, and nice hat." Rick smiled. She tipped the hat to him and then got in the driver's seat, starting the car.

"Ready?" She asked Carl, placing his hat back on his head. He nodded. They drove for about twenty minutes before coming across a town that looked like it hadn't been completely raided. It had a buybuybaby, a Target, and a Gander Mountain. They parked the car in the lot behind the strip mall and began clearing their way through the walkers. By now, they had become so accustomed to fighting with each other, it was almost robotic. They had trained together ever since Rose had arrived at the prison.

"We're almost to the Target." He whispered.

"Carl, we're not going to be able to get there. Look." In front of the target, a group of walkers were tearing apart a guy.

"Crap. Rose, can you reach that rock there?" He asked.

"I think so, but we need to hurry. We're sitting ducks here." She replied, handing him the rock. He threw it as far as he could, hitting a street light, shattering the glass and capturing the walker's attention. They then had to pry open the automatic entrance to the Target, slipping inside. Rose began to walk forward.

"Watch your step." Carl whispered. She turned around to face him and gasped.

"Duck." She growled, sinking her dagger into the walker's skull. She then held out her hand and helped her boyfriend up. He nodded a silent 'thank you'. By the time they left the store, they had killed seven walkers, found some food, shoes, batteries and clothes for Rose. They filled about two backpacks out of the five they had taken from Target. They then fought their way through to the Gander Mountain. Once they were in, they stumbled across something important in the hunting section.

"No way." Rose breathed. She marveled at the entire wall of recurve bows before her.

"Do you know how to shoot?" Carl asked.

"Do I?" She replied, taking a longbow from the wall, nailing an approaching walker between the eyes. "You could say that. I want it!" She said with excitement. She strung the bow and a filled quiver over her back. They took two backpacks full of arrows for her and Daryl as well. They filled the last bag with formula, clothes and toys for Judith. They got back to the car and started to head back. Then, they ran out of gas.

"There's not enough daylight to walk back, we need to clear one of these houses and set camp." Carl said with a sigh. They entered the nearest house, split up and cleared it room-by-room. They barricaded the doors and windows and went upstairs. They set down the supplies they collected on the run and both collapsed on the bed from exhaustion.

"We should probably look around some more. See if we can find some clothes or food." Carl suggested.

"Oh, I'm well aware that's what we _should _do, but I'm too tired." Rose moaned.

"Come on, lazy." He laughed, picking her up and carrying her downstairs. All that they found in the pantry was a 112 ounce canister of pudding.

"You know, I ate a whole one of these by myself once."

"There's no way that's true, Carl." She exclaimed.

"It's true! Ask my dad!" They both laughed, and then kissed.

"I love you, so much." He said. In reply, she kissed him again. "Rose, can I ask you a question?" Carl asked.

"Of course." She responded.

"What happened to your parents?"

"I…I don't know if I can talk about it." She replied, her voice cracking.

"Would it help if I went first?" He asked.

"It might…" She responded.


	6. A MESSAGE

Hey guys! I haven't updated this in a while, and I'm very sorry about that. Just to tide you over, I actually have the whole backstory written out and published. Just go to my page and read the story "Roslynd"! That's the full story, the one you will get in the next chapter is dumbed down a bit for length's sake. Enjoy :)


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